Little fire ant
The little fire ant (Wasmannia auropunctata), also known as the electric ant, is a small (approx.mw-parser-output.frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output.frac.num,.mw-parser-output.frac.den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output.frac.den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output.sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);clip-path:polygon(0px 0px,0px 0px,0px 0px);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}1.5 mm (1⁄16 in) long), light to golden brown (ginger) social ant native to Central and South America, now spread to parts of Africa (including Gabon and Cameroon), Taiwan, North America, Puerto Rico, Israel, Cuba, and six Pacific Island groups (including the Galápagos Islands, Hawaii, New Caledonia and the Solomon Islands) plus north-eastern Australia (Cairns). It is a very harmful invasive species.
The name, electric ant (or little fire ant), derives from the ant's painful sting relative to its size.
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DiurnalDiurnal animals are active during the daytime, with a period of sleeping or other inactivity at night. The timing of activity by an animal depends ...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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OviparousOviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
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starts withThe ant is described as follows:
The native range of the little fire ant is in almost all portions of South America and Central America, excluding colder climate regions. Little fire ants are habitat generalists that tend to colonize areas associated with humans in warmer regions. These habitats include forest edges, managed forests, agricultural fields and plantations. Little fire ants are generalists that consume other insects, decaying vegetation, seeds, and plants. These ants also consume honeydew and engage in mutualistic symbiotic relationships with other herbivorous insects, such as aphids. The little fire ants are effective predators that have a venomous sting that can subdue large insects and vertebrate prey.
Little fire ants establish colonies under rocks and plant litter. These ants are also considered a residential pest as they establish colonies in furniture, food, and clothing in people's homes. Colony movement can be amplified after a heavy rainstorm.
In Wasmannia auropunctata, queens produce more queens through parthenogenesis. Sterile workers usually are produced from eggs fertilized by males. In some of the eggs fertilized by males, however, the fertilization can cause the female genetic material to be ablated from the zygote. In this way, males pass on only their genes to become fertile male offspring. This is the first recognized example of an animal species where both females and males can reproduce clonally resulting in a complete separation of male and female gene pools.
These ants get the benefits of both asexual and sexual reproduction - the daughters who can reproduce (the queens) have all of the mother's genes, while the sterile workers whose physical strength and disease resistance are important are produced sexually.
